The growing number of security threats and incidents, together with the increasing complexity of managing information security in a large organisation, is all too often causing security managers to frantically develop processes to suit the technology in place, rather than being shaped by business needs and requirements.
A recent IDC report entitled: "Enterprise IT Security Management: Best Practice Essentials," lists a number of factors that are stretching already extended IT departments. This includes the need to implement consistent enterprise wide security policies across business units and locations, keep multiple site firewalls at a consistent level of protection and permission, manage user access to computer resources, monitor and respond to a wide range of security events, and provide protection against new and more sophisticated viruses.
These growing challenges are often resolved using home grown - or ad hoc - security processes that rely on labour intensive procedures linked to specific "point products" or fragmented security solutions. There is simply too much to do, in too little time, with too few people. When security processes and technology are not driven by business requirements, inefficiencies inevitably plague day-to-day operations. New solutions are needed to help define, organise and automate best processes and practices in security management so that IT managers can move toward improved control and management of enterprise IT security.
Recognising challenges in security management, many companies are implementing solutions that provide automated and integrated management tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their security standing. Automation is necessary to assure consistent, streamlined administrative processes, while integration is needed to deliver consistent reporting and management across complex IT environments.
NetIQ`s security management software provides solutions that ensure security technology automates processes according to corporate security policies - instead of forcing people and processes to fit fragmented technology. The company`s solutions address four key areas - Policy and Compliance Management, Administrative and Identity Management, Incident and Event Management, and Vulnerability and Configuration Management. These can operate independently or in conjunction with one another.
With a wide range of product solutions - VigilEnt Policy Center, VigilEnt Log Analyzer, Security Manager, VigilEnt Password Manager, VigilEnt User Manager, VigilEnt Security Manager and Security Analyzer, etc - NetIQ enables companies to address specific pain points, with the knowledge that the solutions are based on a consistent, integrated security management approach.
For example, analysts note that managing access and identities for a growing number of users has placed considerable strain on help desk and system administrator resources. NetIQ`s security management solutions, such as VigilEnt Password Manager, deliver an immediate return on investment by enabling self-service password resets for users, which improves access, maintains productivity and avoids costly calls to the help desk.
Many regulated industries, such as financial and healthcare, require maintenance of voluminous logs, along with the capability to manage cross-platform log analysis for compliance reporting. VigilEnt Log Analyzer collects logs from operating systems, web servers and firewalls and normalises logged events from these disparate sources. This saves considerable time and staff resources, enabling security managers to archive logs and perform intrusion trend analysis, as well as forensic analysis, for incident reporting.
NetIQ`s integrated security management solutions provide a cost-effective route to securing information assets across the organisation. The solutions systematically help companies enforce security policies, efficiently administer users and systems, minimise vulnerabilities and prevent intrusions.
Within the sub-Saharan Africa region, 10Net distributes the complete range of NetIQ integrated security management products, in addition to System Management and Web Analytics solutions.
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